Category: Photography

Jazz music, unlike many other forms of music, requires a photographer to be very careful in how they do their work. Jazz events are known for their tricky interior lighting, small groups of people, and intimate gatherings that are mostly indoors.

That is why, if you ever want to go and take photos of a jazz event, here are some tips you should keep in mind:

Be Mindful of the Light

As mentioned at the start, jazz events are notorious for their dim and moody lighting especially when they’re indoors. This lighting plays a big role in creating the ambiance of jazz music to be played and enjoyed. Therefore, you need to take photos in a way that does justice to both the mood of the place and also provides noise-free results.

The most important element to achieve this is what lens you use. Use a prime lens with a wide aperture to capture the maximum amount of light at fairly fast shutter speeds. Without a good lens, you won’t get very nice-looking images even if you take HDR photos with the best HDR software you can find.

Keep it Light

To capture all the action, you’ll have to move around quite a bit. So it’s best to use a lightweight setup. Use a mirrorless camera over a DSLR if you can. It’ll give you the same results for much lesser weight. Another piece of kit to take along for more mobility is to replace your tripod with a monopod. It’ll help you stabilize your photos and videos while removing the need to create special space for it in a crowded setting.

Get Close

To capture the real mood of a jazz event, you should also focus on taking some portrait shots of both the singers and the audience. Capture the feelings on people’s faces, capture the way a musician is playing the instrument. It’s advised to take along a specialized portrait lens with a wide aperture to achieve these kinds of photos.

With these three tips, you will see how much better your jazz photos come out. You won’t have to deal with noisy, uninspiring photos anymore so make sure you follow these tips whenever you’re planning to photograph a jazz event next.